A Pastor in The Northwest

There is an odd movie that I love that came out in 2007.  In fact, I still think about it often.  The movie is Mr. Magorium's Magic Emporium, and it stars some pretty great actors, including Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, and Jason Bateman (one of my favorites!).   There's a line that captured my heart and imagination from the first time I heard Dustin Hoffman's character say it.  Here's the quote: "Your life is an occasion.  Rise to it!" Oh man.  Our lives have a moment in time - a space on the main stage.  We can rise to that moment!   It makes me think of Queen Esther (Hadassah) in the Hebrew Scriptures.  Her uncle challenges her to use her position and status to save her people, the Jewish exiles in Babylon.  She had a choice, so, here's the big moment: 13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep sil...

In thinking about prayer today, I remembered this quote I may have shared in a recent message on the subject: According to Scripture, prayer is an important but not-so-structured part of our relationship with God. We do not have to end with amen. We do not have to close our eyes. It does not have to be a spiritual leader to pray for us. We do not have to use fancy language. Anyone can pray at any time, in any place, for anything. God will listen. The most important thing is to remember why we are praying and to make sure our minds and hearts are prepared before we approach God with our words. Jesus says in Matthew 6:8 that God already knows what we need before we ask. The important thing is to keep that honest line of communication open. -Taffeta Chime https://renew.org/what-does-the-bible-say-about-prayer/?mc_cid=1b2249a0ff&mc_eid=90a3ef166f Keeping the line of communication open - like a text chain with the Lord that we keep responding to throughout the day, right? Lord, help us ...

It was 1996, and I was 23.  My wife, Jackie, and I were living near Nashville, Tennessee, and we found out we were pregnant with our first child. My songwriting friend Scott and I were working through our first record contract with Word Records.  Life was exploding for us!  In a quiet moment, I wrote this prayer inside the cover of my NIV Study Bible. "God, Your will, Nothing more, Nothing less, Nothing else." Now, this prayer is as relevant in my 50's as it was then.  Yes, Lord, Your will, NOT mine, be done! Amen. Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

I read this quote recently and have been thinking about it today: John Chrysostom said, “Prayer is the light of the spirit, and the spirit, raised up to heaven by prayer, clings to God with the utmost tenderness. Like a child crying tearfully for its mother, it craves the milk that God provides. Prayer also stands before God as an honored ambassador. It gives joy to the spirit, peace to the heart. I speak of prayer, not words. It is the longing for God, love too deep for words, a gift not given by humans, but by God’s grace.” There is an aspect of prayer that is much more profound, mysterious, and deeper than mere words spoken or offered.  Chrysostom's statement sounds a bit like Paul's statement in Romans 8 (NIV): 26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’...

I read a great article from Crossway today on the wisdom of Ecclesiastes and how we age in our lives (link below).  In it, the author wrote,  As we change, the questions we wrestle with change too. In our twenties, we ask, “Who am I?” In our thirties we ask, “How do I balance all this?” In our forties the question becomes “Is this it?”—which then turns into “Can I keep going?” in our fifties and “Am I obsolete?” in our sixties. By our seventies and eighties, we are asking, “Was it worth it?” I resonate with this summation (so far!).  The article presents the overall idea that our stages of life are normal and designed by God our Creator, and in each stage we have the opportunity and gift to rejoice in being alive. Oh, and I like the final statement, " We are meant to turn the page as we age, allowing others to take center stage as we move from learner to earner to sage." One day, might I achieve 'sage' status?  Lord help us all! (article from Crossway titled, "E...

Over the last few weeks, I've been pondering this statement that is found in Paul's letter to the Romans. He speaks of God's kindness and severity when it comes to faith and trust.  Here's the passage (Romans 11:21-23): For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. So, God is looking for humans who will trust Him and, even if they are not of Jewish descent, they will be fully welcome and 'grafted in' to His family of faith. Those who reject and refuse to trust in Messiah Jesus lose their connection to God's family. We're confronted, in this text, with both God's great kindness and His judgement. Can both be tru...